"Chisnall creates art that references such things as structure, time and Modernism as they pass through a very contemporary mindset that focuses on humor, transience, functionality and futility.”
D. Dominick Lambardi, 'Repurposing With a Passion', The Huffington Post.

Friday, 18 September 2009

As you may know, our show at the Slade Research Centre closes tomorrow so we are having a closing party from 2 to 6pm. There will be a DJ and some free booze but I dare say that we are bound to run out early so please feel free to bring along a bottle and as many friends as you like.However, if you can’t make it to the closing party but still want to feel like you were there, why not pop on your 3D specs (come on, we’ve all got an emergency pair stashed away somewhere) and check out this 3D photo of my sculpture – taken by the fantastically talented Mr Ben Ashton (also exhibiting at the show).

Tuesday, 8 September 2009

I woke today, after the excesses of last night’s opening party, and felt like my brain had been unravelled. A mixture of red wine, white wine, Guinness and two and a half hours sleep are definitely not conducive with having to get up bright and early at 7 AM. I’d like to say thanks to everyone who made it to the show and apologise for my drunken ramblings – damn, I’ve just remembered that there was a video camera in front of my face at one point – that’s not gonna look pretty.Well, everything went well. The turn out was fantastic and lots of people seemed to be having fun interacting with my sculpture. In fact there were quite a few interactive pieces in the show. Ben Ashton’s gigantic viewer sculpture, that alters your depth perception and makes everything look like a little scale model, has to one of my favourite pieces in the exhibition.I say that everything went well – however, there was a bit of a crossing of wires which meant that some people were left waiting outside while the Culture Minister gave her opening speech inside. So sorry to anybody who had to wait and I hope that the show was reward enough for your patience. I know I had a bloody good time – at least that’s what everyone is telling me ;o)

Oh - I've just remebered another thing. Tonight is the final Tuesday late view (6-10 pm) for the Candid Gallery Summer Show. As I have 11 pieces in the show I had better pop along, although I doubt that I will be celebrating quite as fully as I did last night. For details of the show please check out the details somewhere below. Cheers.

Sunday, 6 September 2009

Well, I’ve just finished setting up my work for tomorrow evening’s The Brain Unravelled opening party. This is the first time that I’ve actually seen what my assembled sculpture looks like – I had just been making it in sections and hoping for the best once it came to the assembly stage. The fun (and also annoying) thing about this piece is that it can be put together in an infinite number of configurations. The form that it eventually took for this show is a careful compromise between aesthetics, stability and what can be seen through the periscope viewers. However, the views through the piece should be more interesting once the space fills up with gallery goers – it’s hard not to smile when you peer into a little window and see a face peering back at you.In the background of the photo above, you can see part of an installation by the Storm Thorgerson – the guy behind all those iconic Pink Floyd album covers. I was hoping to see what work Anthony Gormley had submitted for the show but it had not been set up before I left so I’ll just have to wait till tomorrow evening.If anybody would still like to come to the opening party please email your name to info@thebrainunravelled.com by 3 pm Monday 7th September to be included on the guest list.

Wednesday, 2 September 2009

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it to last night’s late opening at Candid Gallery’s Summer Show as I was busy setting up my work for the next exhibition that I will be involved with – namely, The Brain Unravelled (opening party, Monday 7th Sept – so get your name on the guest list) at The Slade Research Centre, Woburn Square, London.However, I will be going along to Candid Gallery’s final Tuesday late view for the show on the 8th September. So if you would like to join me there for a drink and come and see what I’ve put in the show, the address is 3-5 Torrens Street (behind Angel Tube Station), Islington, London.Hopefully see you there.

Recent/Upcoming Shows

Biog

Based in London since 1999, Chisnall now divides his time and art practice between London and his new, larger studio in Shropshire. Coming from an illustration, painting and print-making background he is now as well known for his sculptures and drawings.

In 2005 he was awarded a bursary and membership from the Royal British Society of Sculptors.

As well as his work appearing in UK and international exhibitions, magazines, on record covers, and on TV (including BBC 2's 'The Culture Show', Channel 4 News, London Live, and Channel 4's 'Four Rooms'), his sculptures have appeared in the feature film, 'Scratch', directed by Jakob Rørvik. In 2013 he was commissioned to produce a series of paintings for the horror film 'Bliaze of Gory'.

The artist's work is featured regularly in on-line articles and interviews, including two separate articles in The Huffington Post.

Chisnall has organised and run art/sculpture workshops for schools and businesses since 1998, including ones for ING Bank's London headquarters via the Royal British Society of Sculptors.

John Malkovich chose Chisnall's script, 'Doppelganger', as the winning entry in the 2008 Sony VAIO Scriptwriting competition. This script, along with Malkovich's was then turned into the short animated film, ‘Snow Angel’.

“ … I’m going to go with the “Doppelganger” script. It’s clever, inventive, and somehow both surprising and inevitable. Very neatly done all in all.” John Malkovich (4th Jan. 2008).

As well as working on his own projects the artist accepts commissions. His clients include Mary Fox Linton, Andy Martin Architects, Converse, Dawood and Tanner, Domus, Ctrl.Alt.Shift, private collectors, and the Ping Pong restaurant chain.

Artist's Statement

Most of my current sculptural work involves the reworking and assemblage of found materials; materials that I feel have a certain ‘resonance’.

Memory, or its fallibility, is also central to a lot of my work. This is more strongly evident in my early pieces, which incorporate or recreate childhood artifacts and toys. A prime example of this is ‘And When I’m a Man I'll Think As a Man’, the life size sculpture of myself as a twelve piece, pre-assembly, model kit. An important aspect of the piece is its bright green colour, which was chosen to match my memory of that of a childhood toy – realizing that the memory would have mutated; exaggerating the luridness of the colour.

Another re-occurring theme or motif in my work is that of the wheeled box or tower, which relates to containment, the urge to possess, and restricted mobility.

As well as the obvious sexual interpretation of the orifice element that has emerged in many of my recent works, my main interest in the device, lies in it being the portal between the internal and the external.

Although not a film maker myself, my work is heavily influenced by my early passion for film and animation. This is evident in my archaic-looking tower sculpture, ‘The City,’ which echoes the same fairy tale or dream-like quality that is characteristic of the short films of animators such as the Brothers Quay and Jan Švankmajer.

“Chisnall’s towering wooden piece is made up of tiny display cases and cabinets made from found materials like skulls, insects and fossils, a kind of modern cabinet of curiosities. Or a nightmarish vision inspired by Jorge Luis Borges. He explains that much like the inhabitants of a big city, each compartmentalised environment plays out its own narrative, seemingly oblivious to that of its neighbour”. Julia Kollewe (journalist – The Guardian and The Independent), 2009.

“...Wayne Chisnall creates art that references such things as structure, time and Modernism as they pass through a very contemporary mindset that focuses on humor, transience, functionality and futility. There is also the presence of popular culture in his thinking, as he addresses the differences between reality and perception, and how that affects the needs, wants and even the formation of the human psyche.” D. Dominick Lambardi, 'Repurposing With a Passion', The Huffington Post, July 14th 2014.